A popular brand of ready-to-eat pasta meals sold at Walmart has been recalled for possible listeria contamination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a public health alert Thursday, warning that some packages of Marketside Linguini With Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm).
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said the affected pasta meals were shipped to Walmart stores nationwide with the establishment number “EST. 50784” or “EST. 47718” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The pre-cooked pasta is packaged in 12-ounce clear plastic trays with “best if used by” dates of Sept. 22, 24, 25, 29 and 30, and Oct. 1, all of this year.
Customers are advised to not eat the pasta and instead throw it away or return it to the point of purchase.
As part of its ongoing investigation into a listeria outbreak linked to alfredo meals sold at Walmart in June, the USDA said samples of the pre-cooked pasta used as an ingredient in the products tested positive for the bacteria. Further tests are being conducted to determine any possible link to the outbreak strain.
Listeriosis, the infection that can result from exposure to Lm, primarily affects older adults, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns. It’s the third leading cause of death from food-borne illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Symptoms of listeriosis can include “fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms,” the USDA said.
In June, chicken fettuccine alfredo meals sold at Walmart and Kroger were voluntarily recalled following a nationwide listeria outbreak linked to 17 illnesses and three deaths, as well as one fetal loss.
The USDA said the outbreak was traced to products made by FreshRealm, Inc. under the Home Chef brand at Kroger and the Marketside brand at Walmart.
